Automaton Creator

Some artificers are incredibly curious to find out what makes people and other creatures tick. Through various questionable methods they honed their skills to bring constructs to life and control their actions. The automatons they create are not just disposable objects as their creators truly believe they are alive and have a soul. 

In Eberron. During the Last War, automaton creators formed the core team of the Warforged project, some with more ethical consideration than others. They were also the ones who fought to give them free will and are still fighting for equal rights for constructs until this day.

Other settings. Automaton creatures can be found wherever there are golems, homoculi or other living constructs. You could potentially learn this at a wizarding school or other university. Automatons are very useful as labor force or as combatants, so the creators are probably sought after, or is this alternative form of life taboo? There is also something divine about giving something the spark of life. Was there a religious influence in your upbringing? How do the gods and higher beings respond to mortals creating life? Are knowledge and faith in opposition here, or is your character trying to combine the two?

Tools of the Trade

You gain proficiency with smith’s tools. If you already have this tool proficiency, you gain proficiency with one other type of artisan’s tools of your choice.

Automaton Creator Spell List

You always have certain spells prepared after you reach particular levels in this class, as shown in the Automaton Creator Spells table. These spells count as artificer spells for you, but they don’t count against the number of artificer spells you prepare. 

3rd level      Find Familiar, Unseen Servant

5th level      Find Steed, Spiritual Weapon

9th level      Animate Dead (Summon Undead*), Conjure Animals

13th level    Conjure Minor Elementals (Summon Elemental*), Guardian of Faith (Polymorph**)

17th level    Dominate Person (Summon Celestial*), Insect Plague

 

Guardian of Faith

In case you want to flavor it as more divine, protecting all your constructs, take Guardian of Faith

Polymorph

In case you want to flavor it as genius artifice, transforming fellow players or have them ride an animal mech, take Polymorph

Automaton Creation

At 3rd level you learn how to create automatons. Beings brought forth by your class spells classify as both their original creature type (like beast or undead) as well as construct. They are immune to being charmed, frightened or poisoned and are resistant to poison damage (unless already immune). You can use your magical tinkering feature on these constructs.

Battle Mechanic

Through your experience at 3rd level you can handle stressful situations better than others. Due to your analytical mind you can stay calm and keep supporting your creations during battles. You gain the following abilities:

• You can cast mending or spend one minute with your tinkerer’s tools to restore 2d6 hit points to any living construct.
• At 7th level, you can use your flash of genius on any construct you can see within 60 feet of you. Additionally, you can also choose to add the intelligence modifier to one attack roll they make (instead of an ability check or saving throw).

Enhance Automaton

Why just mimic a living creature if you can make them better? At 5th level you learn to enhance constructs. As a bonus action or as part of the spell that creates it, you can touch a willing construct to enhance it with one of the effects in the list below. Each creature can only have one enhancement at a time and the enhancements last for an hour or until the creature drops to 0 hit points. You can give a number of enhancements equal to your intelligence modifier and regain all expended uses when you take along rest.

• Composite Plating. The creature’s AC increases by your intelligence modifier divided by 2 rounded down.
• Shocking Strike. Add 1d6 lightning damage to any melee strike the creature makes. These attacks are considered magical in overcoming damage resistances.
• Magical Transmission.  During your turn you can use your action to cast a spell of 1st or 2nd level from the creatures location. You expend a spell slot of that level and components, casting time and concentration are the same as if you would cast it normally.

Artificial Companion

At level 9, you have formed a strong connection with your artificial companions, but they can’t fulfill your need for human connection, or can they? When you cast the find familiar spell or the find steed spell you can choose to bring forth a creature with an artificial mind. You can only have one companion with an artificial mind at a time. Doing so will give it the following abilities:

• Keen mind. The creature gains an Intelligence of 10. The creature also gains the ability to speak one language you know.
• Advisor. Choose two skills or tool proficiencies in which the creature will become proficient. Independently they can make skill checks with these abilities and while they are within 5 feet of you they can use their action to give you advantage on skill checks with these skills (using your own modifiers). In case of a tool proficiency, you must also integrate this tool into the creature when you create it.
• Protect your master. When your companion is within 60 feet of you, you can use your bonus action to have them make a single attack with their reaction. You can add your proficiency bonus to the attack roll and damage rolls and in case it forces a saving throw, it uses your spell save DC instead.
• Shell. Just recreating this build would not feel the same. When the creature drops to 0 hit points and the body is retrievable, it won’t disappear. The shell can still be destroyed or lost and cannot be healed with your battle mechanic feature. When you temporarily dismiss your familiar, the shell remains inert and can take no damage, but it does weigh 5 pounds. You can spend 5 minutes with your tinker’s tools to revive it to full health. When the shell is lost or you want to change the form or advisor skills, you will need to cast the spell again. In this case the old shell disappears, only leaving behind the toolkit if you ever gave it one. Additionally, when you can see your artificial companion take damage, you can use your reaction to give it resistance to one incoming damage type.

 

Soul Contingency

After you reach level 15, you can spend a 5,000 gold pieces worth of materials and 2 weeks of work to create a mechanical duplicate of yourself. This shell remains inert and endures indefinitely, as long as it remains undisturbed.

When you die and your soul is willing and free, your soul will be transferred into the mechanical body. You keep your personality, memories, skills and base ability scores, but all your racial traits are replaced with those of your choice of a warforged or a reborn (with construct as your dual type). Your equipment remains with your original body. Your original physical remains, if they still exist, become inert and can't thereafter be restored to life, since the creature's soul is elsewhere.